Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich: Vote for YOUR second Klassiker dream team centre back!
Ahead of the first Bundesliga Klassiker of the season, bundesliga.com is giving you the chance to vote for your Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund dream team. All 11 positions are up for grabs, and it's your votes that will determine the final combined Bayern-Dortmund XI, which we will present to you ahead of Saturday's big match. Here are the four candidates for the second centre-back position: Jerome Boateng, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Neven Subotic and Niklas Süle. Cast your votes in the poll below!
Vote for your combined XI below!
Jerome Boateng
A defender with composure and vision is a rare commodity, but Jerome Boateng ticks all the boxes. Efficient in the tackle, his timing is outstanding, but that is not where his involvement in the game ends. Indeed, he is often the starting point for Bayern's and Germany's attacks – while his stooping headers and venomous shots often see him providing the finishes too.
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Sokratis Papastathopoulos
The Greek defender is not the kind of person you like to have standing between you and the goal. His presence is like Dortmund's second Yellow Wall – an almost impenetrable object in front of his goalkeeper; a player with a passion and determination which embodies everything a working-class fan from Germany's industrial heartland desires from one of their heroes: a man who leaves everything on the pitch.
Neven Subotic
The battle scars tell it all: Neven Subotic is not afraid to get stuck in, anywhere. The Serbian stopper, who once represented the USA at youth level, has returned from his latest injury absence as fit as a fiddle – "thanks to all that training in the Jürgen Klopp days" – and it is precisely this kind of commitment and tireless running which have endeared him to Dortmund's fans.
Watch: Subotic on loving being in the thick of it
Niklas Süle
For a physically imposing player who can operate at pace – Süle has been clocked at a top speed of 20.3mph – the defender combines neat skills with an improving passing game, while offering plenty of mobility. Those who recall his season-opening goal will not be surprised to learn the gangly defender began his career as a fearsome forward. Since joining Bayern in the summer, he has covered an average ofover six miles per game, misplaced a measly 3.9 per cent of his passes and has been on the ball around 77.6 times whenever he has featured.